The Philippine government, in 2025, pursued the enhancement of public sector compensation under the Salary Standardization Law VI (SSL VI). This is a multi-year scheme that will bring government salaries closer to those in the private sector by ameliorating the adverse effects of inflation on salaries while ensuring equitable pay for public servants. With the effectivity of its second tranche on January 1, 2025, this law gives way to substantial salary increases starting from salary grade 1 to 11.
What is SSL VI?
The SSL VI covers a four-year Salary Standardization for period 2024 to 2027. Tranches are implemented every year to give gradual salary increases and to maintain fiscal sustainability. The first tranche was implemented on January 2024, followed by the second tranche in January 2025. The third tranche will be in January 2026, and the last tranche will be implemented by January 2027.
2025 Salary Grade 1 to 11 Monthly Salary Schedules
New monthly salary rates under the second tranche of SSL VI have been prescribed across salary grades 1-11. The adjustments are intended to engender real increases, especially to entry and mid-level government workers.
Salary for 2025, Grade 1 would now be 14,061 pesos. Grade 2, 14,818 pesos; Grade 3, 15,586 pesos; Grade 4, 16,543 pesos; Grade 5, 17,553 pesos; and Grade 6, 18,620 pesos. Grade 7 workers now receive 19,744 pesos, Grade 8 gets 21,211 pesos. Grade 9 goes up to 23,176 pesos. Grade 10 now earns 25,586 pesos, while Grade 11 salary adjustment is 27,000 pesos.
These adjustments give full recognition to the government’s efforts at improving the employees’ quality of life, thus closing the compensation gap between public and private sector workers.
Salary increments in the period 2024-2025
Salary increases under the second tranche vary from grade to grade. Thus, Grade 1, which earned 13,000 pesos in 2024, now commands 14,061 pesos in 2025, reflecting an increase of 8.16 percent. Grade 5, on the other hand, which in 2020 earned 16,200 pesos, now commands 17,866 pesos for an increase of 10.29 percent.
Grade 10, which during 2024 had salaries of 20,580 pesos, jumped to 25,586 pesos in 2025, representing an impressive increase of 24.36 percent. In comparison, Grade 11 had an increment of 5.3 percent on a 30,024-peso salary from a previous 28,512 pesos in 2024.
This percentage increase was a clear indication of the government’s differentiation in favor of entry-level and mid-level positions in the public sector, thereby improving more equitable and motivating compensation throughout the workforce.
Extra Benefits and Allowances
Government employees find new and further allowances in addition to basic salary adjustments. Included in the second tranche is a medical allowance of 7,000 pesos annually, which supports healthcare-related expenses. It also provides a clothing or uniform allowance, again by 7,000 pesos annually. All of these improvements encompass ways of helping the employee meet some of his or her professional needs without incurring excess personal expenditures.
Performance-Based Incentives
Benefits performance perquisite of the most excellent public service. This performance-based incentive includes the Representation and Travel Allowance which varies in relation to rank and number of workdays involved in official and related travels.
Another performance-related incentive is the award of Performance-Based Bonus to employees who meet or exceed the required targets for the agency. Additionally, the good performance is acknowledged through the CNA Incentive, available to employees and agencies who show exceptional efficiency and performance.
These programs, in fact, will give financial motivation to government workers but encourage work accountability as well as productivity across the different sectors of government.
Implementation in Local Government Unit (LGU)
Salary increases in Local Government Units (LGUs) depend on the financial classification and capacity such as the following: first-class provinces are usually able to implement the increases up to 100 percent, while second-class provinces cover almost 95 percent. A third-class municipality may cover around 85 percent; a fourth-class will cover around 80 percent. This staggered implementation enables LGUs to adopt the new salary structure in a sustainable manner vis–vis available resources.
Funding and Fiscal Viability
Funding for the salary adjustments under SSL VI comes from two sources. One is the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF), which guarantees the national government’s availability of resources for incremental salary adjustments.
The second is the sufficiency of allocations in the budgets of individual agencies to augment these salary increases wherever possible. This manner prevents the salary hikes from equating only fairness but also financially sustainable.